One of the greatest enigmas in the studies of ancient history is
the emergence of the Sumerians, who supposedly migrated
from some unknown place and, with no apparent preliminary
development, immediately began to build cities, observatories,
libraries, and the civil infrastructures which accompany such
undertakings.
Only a fraction of the known Sumerian writing has been translated,
and the translation efforts have been hampered by the fact that no
known language has been found that relates to Sumerian. Bilingual

The Sumerians had a very advanced financial and economic
system, complete with stock markets and commodities trading.

Sumerian-Akkadian documents provided some of the initial keys, but
linguistic comparisons are still difficult since Akkadian and other
languages borrowed the cuneiform style of writing used by the
Sumerians, and a great deal of confusion still exists.
The amazing architecture of their cities and ziggurats is fairly well
known, but there are many other accomplishments which are not so
well known. They had a very advanced financial and economic
system, complete with stock markets and commodities trading. (There
were even complex accounting tables which reconciled lunar and solar
calendars in the calculation of debt, annual percentages, and
compound interest earnings.)
There was thriving commerce along the Euphrates River, where large,
pontoon barges carried goods from city to city. Advanced medicine,
law, metallurgy and chemurgy were practiced, and sophisticated

Their earliest writings show
that they knew the three-dimensional arrangement and mechanics of
the Solar System.

agriculture, with irrigation canals, crop rotation, and the utilization of
grains for non-culinary use was abundant.
Finely crafted artwork such as pottery, sculptures, and paintings
abounded, and there was even a large market for cosmetics. Special
schools taught art, music, and theater, and graduates from these
schools formed an important, professional class.
But perhaps the most amazing knowledge possessed by the
Sumerians was in the field of astronomy. Their earliest writings show
that they knew the three-dimensional arrangement and mechanics of
the Solar System. They knew the Sun (Utu) was a sphere, and that all
of the planets (Mul-Apin), including the Earth, traveled around it.
They created accurate tables of lunar and solar eclipses, and knew of
the phases of Venus. They claimed twelve celestial bodies inhabited
the Solar System, (Sun, Moon, and ten planets) and correctly divided
them into two categories: inner and outer planets.
They acknowledged that the outermost three could not be seen, but
they correctly identified the colors of the first two—green and blue,
respectively. The fact that we only recognize nine planets (until the
recent demotion of Pluto) is potentially solved by a variety of
conflicting Sumerian legends involving the destruction of one of the
planets—often in conjunction with the time of the flood.
Supposedly a planet named Nibiru, traveling between the first and
second outer worlds (Mars and Jupiter), once existed in the regions
now occupied by the Asteroid Belt, but was either destroyed or
somehow ‘went away’. Whatever the case, they were convinced it

The Sumerians accurately knew that it
takes 25,800 years for this circle to return to its original "North Star".

should be there. (For the sake of The Days of Peleg, it was assumed
destroyed, and the object seen by astronomers in Chapter 5 was most
likely Vesta, an asteroid orbiting in the same path—and the only one
regularly visible to the naked eye).
However, the most remarkable item in the vast reservoir of
Sumerian astronomical awareness is the accurate measurement of the
Earth’s precession. This is the slight wobble in the Earth’s axis which
causes a line from the North Pole to draw a slow circle in the sky as
the years progress. As a result, the "North Star" can change over the
course of several centuries. The Sumerians accurately knew that it
takes 25,800 years for this circle to return to its original "North Star",
and made reference to it (calling it the "Great Year") in some of their
writings as a warning to future generations of navigators and
astronomers.
Now it must be stated clearly that there is absolutely no indication
that the Sumerians had any of the necessary equipment, or even the
optical tools needed for making these observations or determining

Knowing that something is possible (and perhaps once existed) makes it much easier and more likely to
accomplish it—or replicate it.

these measurements. They simply knew it. Many Sumerian legends
claim that this knowledge came from ancient races, or gods from
before the flood.
In the context of The Days of Peleg, it makes perfect sense that,
although all monuments and manifestation of advanced science were
destroyed during the flood, the knowledge of the various sciences
would have survived. Knowing that something is possible (and
perhaps once existed) makes it much easier and more likely to
accomplish it—or replicate it.
It should also be noted that subsequent civilizations, such as
Babylonia, Egypt, and Arabia also knew a great deal of astronomical
knowledge, including precession and other planetary formulae, but
were only able to use this information for calculation purposes such as
eclipses and the development of astrological charts. There is no
indication that these later civilizations understood the foundations of
this knowledge. Indeed, they all freely admit their astronomical
prowess was inherited from the Sumerians.
Strangely, later Sumerian (and Babylonian) writings indicate a
loss of astronomical comprehension; referring to the sky as a bowl
inverted upon a flat earth. By the time these regressive Sumerian
astronomers were writing such things, Egyptian and Greek
mathematician/astronomers were measuring the circumference of the
Earth and the distance to the moon.
Rather than the steady, Darwinian progress of social and
technological achievements, ancient history is, instead, a testimony to
the rise and fall of numerous, co-existing civilizations and the many
times that scientific knowledge has arisen, atrophied, and ultimately
been buried by the passage of time.